Friday, August 26, 2005

Today is the last day before the end-of-summer vacation. I am ready to do something that I have never done before: the "stay home" vacation. I assume it is because now with a family, travel is a complete beating, so now I will stay around the house, play some golf, and take the kids to Chuck E Cheese daily. Sweet. Lewisville is lovely this time of year.

What that means to the blog remains to be seen. I may be doing stuff every day, or not at all. I wish I could make you a promise one way or the other, but I can't. I have no idea how this goes. But, something tells me I will be working even when I am not. So check in with me, and I will attempt to talk some sports with you.

"I still think Jeff Gordon rallies," France said. "If he doesn't, we have plenty of great drivers who are already in. Tony Stewart has got the momentum. Rusty Wallace, nice to see him have a moment in his final year.

"My view of it is, if Jeff Gordon makes it in ... he's very good at many of the tracks in the Chase. He'll go from possibly being out to maybe being a favorite because it will have meant he had a good three races coming up, starting at Bristol."

When it was pointed out that four of the top 10 drivers have not won a race this season, France said it doesn't matter.

"It would be OK (for a champion not to win a race), although I think it's very unlikely," France said. "I would be shocked if the winner goes through the final 10 and doesn't win a race."

I enjoy Nascar, and I think their point system is pretty solid. I do, however, have to wonder if they shouldn’t offer a higher incentive for 1st place. Right now, 1st gets 5 more points than 2nd, which is nothing. But, when many of your drives in the race for the title will not win a race ALL season, then maybe you aren’t rewarding winners enough.

Despite the loss, Texas won its second home series since the All-Star break. Starting pitching had a lot to do with it. Chris Young, Juan Dominguez and Benoit combined to pitch 18 innings, allowing four earned runs, nine hits, 13 strikeouts and seven walks (five by Dominguez on Wednesday). Each threw 100 or more pitches and showed an ability to work out of trouble.

"We had three young pitchers put us deep in the game and give us a chance to win," manager Buck Showalter said. "That's a good sign. Hopefully, we can keep it going and finish this way."

Another young arm, Kameron Loe, gets his chance tonight. Loe hasn't started all season for the Rangers but pitched well as a starter at Frisco and Oklahoma last year. Edison Volquez, another young arm, may get his chance Tuesday.

The key was to add players well along in the development process. That increased the odds that they would reach the majors. The Indians did not have the luxury of being wrong.

The Colon deal typified the plan. The Indians added a pair of minor leaguers who have become standouts on the current club: center fielder Grady Sizemore and left-hander Cliff Lee.

Sizemore and Lee are part of an impressive core of rising talent. The group includes DH Travis Hafner, catcher Victor Martinez, shortstop Jhonny Peralta, outfielder Coco Crisp and starting pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Jake Westbrook. Hafner, whom Shapiro stole from the Rangers in a deal after the 2002 season, is the oldest of the group at 28.

Hunt Sports Group president John Wagner said the club appreciated Elliott's efforts, which have helped turn FC Dallas (10-7-5, 35 points) into a second-place team so far this season. The team missed the playoffs the past two years.

"Greg has worked hard under challenging circumstances during his time with the organization," Wagner said. "As an organization we have decided to move in a different direction, and we wish Greg all the best in his future endeavors."

OK. The team is playing as well as it ever has (slump notwithstanding) and they just opened their dream stadium. To say this is an odd time to get rid of your top man is a tremendous understatement. So, let’s hear from you who know the real story, because I am baffled.

Mavs broadcast shakeupThe Mavericks plan to announce today that radio play-by-play man Mark Followill is moving to the television team, replacing Matt Pinto, a source said.

Pinto is leaving after accepting an opportunity to broadcast Clippers games.The team also will announce that longtime Metroplex sports personality Chuck Cooperstein will replace Followill on Mavericks radio broadcasts on ESPN/103.3 FM.

Has anyone ever done a fantasy football league on NFL.com? I usually do yahoo, but a buddy set up a league there so I had to join. Anyways, I was looking at the preranking of players and they have LT as the estimated 11th pick and Shaun Alexander as the 16th. 11th PICK?!?? I thought LT was the consensus number 1. Is there scoring different? Well I got the draft in a couple hours and would appreciate some feedback.

Teams that need a standstill, 10-15 minute guy to only take wide open shots are interested, of course. The teams with a dominant big man (i.e. San Antonio, Miami, Suns) always need a deep threat to free up the middle. Equating that need to them thinking Finley is Great is rediculous.

The mavs have no big man, so the need for a no defense, no drive to the hole shooter is not worth $50,000,000.

So you don't think the Mavs could use a standstill 10-15 minute guy to take wide open shots? You don't think Finley could have a few wide open looks with Dirk or Stack on the floor?

Who said Finley's great? Who's apologizing for him? I'm calling out the idiots who think he's a bad player that isn't serviceable.

If it's only for salary cap reasons, that's fine. I just think that maybe, just maybe, if the Mavs didn't openly comment that they would use the Allan Houston rule to waive Finley, that maybe they could have some takers.

Cuban traded for and traded away Juwan Howard. He traded away Raef's albatross of a contract so he could have done that.

All that being said, I still think he could have contributed to this team.